Suicide Bomber Kills 16 Israeli Teens At Club

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian terrorist detonated a bomb at the entrance to a crowded beachfront club in Tel Aviv on Friday night, killing 16 Israeli teenagers and himself and wounding 70 others.

It was one of the most deadly terrorist attacks in Israeli history, by far the most deadly in the eight-month Palestinian uprising and possibly a death knell for renewed U.S.-led efforts to stem the bloodshed in the Mideast crisis.

The suicide bomber mingled among youths waiting to enter a nightclub called Waterworld on Tel Aviv's seaside promenade about 11 p.m. at the start of the Israeli weekend. The blast left bodies and blood strewn over sidewalks and windshields of parked cars.

"There was an explosion and I flew back," said a clubgoer named Rotem, 18. "Near me fell bodies, body parts, arms. I have no words to describe it."

The attack came as pressure mounted on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end a nine-day "unilateral cease-fire" in which Israel's army did not retaliate for Palestinian attacks. Over the past week, four Jewish settlers had been shot to death on roads in the occupied West Bank, and more and more Israelis were demanding a tough response.

The radical groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad each reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing. But Israeli officials immediately laid blame on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority, which the Israelis say has instigated the violence and done nothing to stop terrorism emanating from its territory.

Sharon's aides said the Cabinet would meet early today to decide how to respond. The government's first response was the complete closing off of the Palestinian territories and an order to all Palestinians working in Israel to pack up and go home.

"This was a horrendous, indiscriminate massacre of teenagers just trying to enjoy themselves on a Friday night," said Raanan Gissin, one of Sharon's spokesmen. "The finger goes in one direction. We know now the true Arafat. The world should draw the proper conclusion for once about who is the victim here and who is the aggressor."

In Washington, President Bush released a statement deploring the attack and demanding that Arafat do so publicly as well. U.S. officials have been trying to pressure the Palestinian leader into taking a harder line against Palestinian terrorists and militants.

"I call upon chairman Arafat to condemn this act and to call for an immediate cease-fire," Bush said. "There is no justification for senseless attacks against innocent civilians."

There was no reaction from Arafat. Ahmed Qureia, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the Palestinians were against the killing of civilians on both sides but he accused Israel of instigating the violence.

"There is no way to put an end to this cycle of violence as long as the Israeli government is not responding to the international community's calls or invitation to put an end to the aggression which it is practicing against the Palestinian people," Qureia said.

In the past, Israel has retaliated for terrorist attacks by shelling Palestinian police stations where they say attacks are being plotted. After a suicide bomber killed five Israeli shoppers at a mall in Netanya last month, the Israelis sent U.S.-made F-16 warplanes to bomb police stations in Nablus and Ramallah.

Before Friday night's blast, 470 Palestinians, 88 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs had been killed since the Palestinian uprising erupted in September.

In an effort to halt the descent into all-out war, a team of U.S. officials have been meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss a timetable for a cease-fire based on the recently released report by the Mitchell Commission, headed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. The meetings have yielded little progress as some ranking Palestinian security officials have boycotted the meetings.

Under heavy international pressure to exercise restraint, Sharon ordered the Israeli army last week to stop initiating any attacks and to hold fire except in cases of self-defense. The Palestinians denounced Sharon's policy as a "public relations trick" and said they would not follow suit until Sharon accepted the Mitchell report's call for a freeze on Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands.

The Israeli policy had been partly aimed at persuading international leaders, many of whom had been critical of Israel's use of force, that the Palestinians were responsible for the violence. Some of Sharon's advisers had counseled him to maintain the cease-fire until after his planned visit to several European countries next week.

That now appears unlikely. While Sharon is sympathetic to the right-wing settlers, Israel traditionally is more apt to respond forcefully to attacks on Israelis within Israel proper, especially when terrorists strike in Tel Aviv or the heart of the country.